What is the pH and nutrient level of your soil? If you don’t test your soil, you won’t know! Soil testing allows you to save money and make better land management decisions. It will tell you the soil’s pH and indicate if you have deficiencies in certain minerals/elements. This allows you to apply just the right amount of fertilizer (and/or lime) to maximize your yields and minimize environmental impacts and financial losses.
For farmers utilizing manures, soil testing is also an important part of your manure management plan, and optimally should be done every 3 years.
The Conservation District has soil test kits (we use the Penn State Laboratory) that are available to homeowners and agricultural producers. We will provide the test kits, but you are responsible for postage.
For an overview of proper sampling technique